I'm going to be an Aunt!

Thanksgiving 2006 was so wonderful! The fiance’s family came into town from Indiana and Chicago and spent a few days with us. I’ve mentioned before about how fun they are and how much I enjoy being a part of a bigger family. This was no exception. It was a blast!

But perhaps my favorite part of the whole week was when His 5-year old niece called me “Aunt Michelle”, completely unsolicited. She was simply asking me a question, and it came out of her mouth so naturally, as if she had been calling me that for years. It was precious! And it brought tears to my eyes. Right there at breakfast. Being an only child I have had zero chances to be an aunt thus far in my life, and now I’m going to be one, 5 times over! I want to the best “Auntie M” ever! (That’s what they are going to call me… how cute is that!?)

I cannot thank His family enough for being so welcoming and making me feel like a part of the family so quickly. Nine months is not a lot of time, and there is a lot of distance between us and his entire family, so we don’t get to see them that often, but in that time they have managed to make me feel like I am one of them. And that means more to me than they will ever know. They were all especially kind to my parents, whom they just met for the first time this weekend, and to my best friend. What more can I ask? (Even as I am writing this, I am sitting here with His dog on my lap/arm. She’s making it difficult to type, but it’s totally worth it. She loves me too!) I truly am blessed and thankful.

I've been thinking...

I think I'm going to dimantle this blog. I haven't felt inspired by it for a while now. The title and stuff just isn't doing it for me. While those two things are very important in my life, I don't feel they accurately portray the cleverness and insight I'd hoped to share with the world. I'll keep you posted, but rest assured I'm not leaving, I'm just going through a Madonna-like reinvention in my career and will emerge a bigger and better blog.

K.

Whew! You'll excuse me for the blog break while I've been basking in the enjoyment of becoming betrothed, won't you??

Thanks!

Here's how it happened...

Mike thought of EVERYTHING! He had a very elaborate scheme planned and I fell for it all. I was completely surprised! We were in Whitewater, Wisconsin for a conference that he went to for work, and I was there for fun and to go somewhere I had never been.

So, a couple of weeks prior he had told me that there was a mingling event with all of the conference attendees and their significant others, and that it was a dressy affair. So, on that Saturday, he had told me to be ready by 4:30 and that he would come back to the hotel to change and we would leave. So I was all ready to go, all dressed up and everything. And then the phone in the hotel room rang, it was the front desk telling me that I had something at the desk and asked me to come pick it up. When I got down there, the woman handed me an envelope that said "please do me the favor of reading this letter in the lobby for reasons that I will explain in the letter". So I sat down and started reading. And immediately started bawling. So I'm sitting in the lobby, all dressed up, crying. In the letter he told me that there was no mingling event, that he had used that as an excuse for us to get dressed up because he was taking me to one of the nicest restaurants in Milwaukee. (The 21st best restaurant in the country.) The letter said that I should finish reading and if he hadn't met me in the lobby by the time I was done, to head back up to the room and he would meet me there. I waited for about 10 minutes (and read the letter once more) and headed back up to the room. Little did I know, he was in the hotel and had watched me leave to go down to the front desk. Once I was gone, he had gone into the room and set up candles and had champagne and champagne glasses with our names engraved on them. And that's what I saw when I walked back into the room. I cried even harder when I saw him standing there! And then he proposed. It was amazing!

He put so much thought into all of it. I'm a very lucky girl! (Also, the week prior, he had given me a gift certificate to get a manicure, so that my nails would look nice when I showed people the ring, although I didn't know that at the time. See, he thought of EVERYTHING!)

It could not have been more perfect! I'm crying just writing this.

Wow.

I am forever tied to Wisconsin!

Well friends, as it turns out, I came home from Wisconsin with something even better than cheese. . . I came home with an amazingly thoughtful fiance and one stunningly perfect engagement ring!!! Yes, this trip to Whitewater, WI proved to be thee most special trip I have ever taken. (My next entry will be about the proposal and the perfect weekend I just had. I just didn't want to leave you all hanging wondering about my cheese adventures.)

Heaven, here I come!

This blogger is headed to the CHEESE capital of the World . . . that's right, the great and wonderful state of Wisconsin! And I'm pretty darned excited. Any place that claims CHEESE as its finest product has got to be a blissful place. I'm hoping to find myself amongst all kinds of CHEESE statues, monuments, rivers, lakes and streams. I'm guessing that there will be little old ladies standing on the streets outside of their CHEESE stores passing out samples. And I bet there is just a whiff of sharp cheddar in the air that lingers over the whole state. Yummmm!!!

I will not return to Ohio without some sort of CHEESE-like item, whether that be CHEESE itself or a CHEESE-shaped magnet or a t-shirt with CHEESE on it or one of those CHEESE hats that Green Bay Packers fans always wear - I've always been a giant fan of those!!

This is going to be one heck of a trip! I can't wait. I'll be sure to share all of my CHEESE adventures when I return.